► Cognitive recovery in severe nmTBI can occur even after 1yr post-injury. ► One year post injury, fornix and hippocampal volumes do not reduce further. ► A clear reduction of callosal volume is ...observed between 1 and 8yr post injury. ► Neural degeneration continues long after trauma and relates to specific structures.
In previous studies, we investigated a group of subjects who had suffered from a severe non missile traumatic brain injury (nmTBI) without macroscopic focal lesions and we found brain atrophy involving the hippocampus, fornix, corpus callosum, optic chiasm, and optic radiations. Memory test scores correlated mainly with fornix volumes 37,38.
In the present study, we re-examined 11 of these nmTBI subjects approximately 8yr later. High-spatial resolution T1 weighted magnetic resonance images of the brain (1mm3) and standardised memory tests were performed once more in order to compare brain morphology and memory performance originally assessed 3–13 months after head injury (first study) and after 8–10yr (present study). An overall improvement of memory test performance was demonstrated in the latest assessment, indicating that cognitive recovery in severe nmTBI subjects had not been completed within 3–13 months post-injury. It is notable that the volumes of the fornix and the hippocampus were reduced significantly from normal controls, but these volumes do not differ appreciatively between nmTBI subjects at first (after ∼1yr) and at second (after ∼8yr) scans. On the contrary, a clear reduction in the volume of the corpus callosus can be observed after ∼1yr and a further significant reduction is evident after ∼8yr, indicating that the neural degeneration in severe nmTBI continues long after the head trauma and relates to specific structures and not to the overall brain.
To compare the efficacy of the inside-out tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O) device versus the single-incision TVT-Secur device 36 months after the procedure.
A single-blind, randomized, ...parallel-group study on 154 patients with stress urinary incontinence (77 treated with TVT-O and 77 with the TVT-Secur hammock approach). The primary endpoint was the objective cure rate 36 months after the procedure evaluated with the challenge stress test. Secondary endpoints were subjective cure rate (evaluated with bladder diary, quality-of-life questionnaires, and patient-reported outcome tools) and intraoperative and postoperative complications. The primary endpoint was evaluated with a noninferiority study design.
Sixty-six patients in the TVT-O group and 64 in the TVT-Secur group concluded the study. Thirty-six months after the procedure, 57/66 patients (86.4%) in the TVT-O and 50/64 (78.1%) in the TVT-Secur groups were objectively cured (noninferiority unilateral u test: p < .05). No differences were observed in the subjective cure and complication rates.
TVT-Secur seems not to be inferior to TVT-O in the surgical treatment of stress urinary incontinence and causes less postoperative pain. The possibility of severe blood loss cannot be ruled out when TVT-Secur is used.
Bradykinin drives normal lung fibroblasts into myofibroblasts, induces fibroblast proliferation and activates mitogen activated protein kinase pathways (MAPK) but its effects on bronchial fibroblasts ...from asthmatics (HBAFb) have not been yet studied. We studied bradykinin-induced fibroblast proliferation and differentiation and the related intracellular mechanisms in HBAFb compared to normal bronchial fibroblasts (HNBFb). Bradykinin-stimulated HBAFb and HNBFb were used to assess: bradykinin B2 receptor expression by Western blot analysis; cell proliferation by 3H thymidine incorporation; α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expression/polymerization by Western blot and immunofluorescence; epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and p38 MAPK activation by immunoprecipitation and Western blot, respectively.
Constitutive bradykinin B2 receptor and α-SMA expression was higher in HBAFb as compared to HNBFb. Bradykinin increased bradykinin B2 receptor expression in HBAFb. Bradykinin, via bradykinin B2 receptor, significantly increased fibroblast proliferation at lower concentration (10−11M) and α-SMA expression/polymerization at higher concentration (10−6M) in both cells. Bradykinin increased ERK1/2 and p38 phosphorylation via bradykinin B2 receptor; EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478 and panmetalloproteinase inhibitor GM6001 blocked bradykinin-induced ERK1/2 activation but not p38 phosphorylation. Bradykinin, via bradykinin B2 receptor, induced EGF receptor phosphorylation that was suppressed by AG1478. In HBAFb AG1478, GM6001, the ERK1/2-inhibitor U0126 and the p38 inhibitor SB203580 suppressed bradykinin-induced cell proliferation, but only SB203580 reduced myofibroblast differentiation.
These data indicate that bradykinin is actively involved in asthmatic bronchial fibroblast proliferation and differentiation, through MAPK pathways and EGF receptor transactivation, by which bradykinin may contribute to airway remodeling in asthma, opening new horizons for potential therapeutic implications in asthmatic patients.
Background. The prospective memory (PM) construct is aimed at capturing cognitive operations involved in the successful accomplishment of delayed intentions. It is generally agreed that PM impairment ...occurs in patients with prefrontal lobes damage. Objective. To evaluate if there is a causal role of a deficit of executive abilities (failures of planning, set-shifting, selective attention, or working memory) over the PM impairment. Methods. We report a detailed investigation of PM and executive abilities in two patients with posttraumatic damage to prefrontal lobes who complained from a reduced compliance with appointments and daily routines. Results. Laboratory tests confirmed a difficulty in fulfilling delayed intentions in response to the occurrence of critical events and elapsed time. In one patient, PM impairment was associated with poor performance on tests investigating planning, working memory, and mental shifting. The other patient performed in the normal range on all executive tests. Conclusions. Despite the frequent claim of a dependence of PM deficits from executive dysfunction, the reported cases demonstrate that this is not necessarily the case. The results are discussed in the light of current hypotheses relating PM impairment to other deficits that commonly occur as a result of damage to the prefrontal lobes.
To investigate the impact of a 3 months preoperative administration of an oral contraceptive, containing dienogest (DNG) and estradiol valerate (E2V) on the outcome of office operative hysteroscopy ...(OOH). One-hundred and forty-two patients diagnosed at office hysteroscopy as having an asynchronous endometrium associated with either a broad-base sessile endometrial polyp (>1.5, <2.5 cm) or a uterine septum (>1/3 uterine cavity) or scheduled for tubal sterilization were enrolled into a prospective case-control study at University "Federico II" of Naples. 86/142 patients accepted the preoperative hormonal treatment (Group A), while 56/142 refused, thus becoming controls (Group B). Group A underwent OOH during the 10th-20th days of the third cycle of treatment. In Group B OOH was performed at enrolment, together with the diagnostic procedure. The study outcomes were: endometrial pattern, success rate, operating time, degree of surgical difficulty and pain score. An overall improvement of the endometrium was reported in 100% of cases in Group A. A statistically significant difference in success rate could not be demonstrated between two groups. Operative procedures were performed significantly quicker and easier in Group A than Group B (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). The mean Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score was significantly lower in Group A (p < 0.001). A short pretreatment with combined oral contraceptive (COC) containing E2V/DNG seems to have a favorable impact on endometrium which in turn may result in an improvement of the overall outcomes of OOH.
There is now a large body of evidence suggesting that color and photographic detail exert an effect on recognition of visually presented familiar objects. However, an unresolved issue is whether ...these factors act at the visual, the semantic or lexical level of the recognition process. In the present study, we investigated this issue by having Alzheimer's patients and normal controls name figures in four presentation displays (PDs): black and white and colored line drawings, and black and white and color photographs. We also collected image agreement (IA) values (a measure of the extent to which the presented figure matches the stored structural description of the depicted object) for the same stimuli and compared the effects of PD on IA and naming accuracy. Our results suggest that color acts on naming by assisting semantic processing of the stimuli to be recognized; by contrast, photographic detail seems to benefit visual processing by increasing IA.
A compact muon tracking system for didactic and outreach activities Antolini, R.; Candela, A.; Conicella, V. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
07/2016, Volume:
824
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
We present a cosmic ray telescope based on the use of plastic scintillator bars coupled to ASD-RGB1S-M Advansid Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) through wavelength shifter fibers. The system is ...comprised of 200 electronic channels organized into 10 couples of orthogonal planes allowing the 3D reconstruction of crossing muons. Two monolithic PCB boards have been designed to bias, readout all the SiPMs enclosed in the system, to monitor the working parameters and to remotely connect the detector. To make easier the display of muon tracks to non-expert users, two LED matrices, triggered by particle interactions, have been implemented. To improve the usability of the muon telescope, a controller board unit permits to select different levels of trigger and allows data acquisition for refined analyses for the more proficient user. A first prototype, funded by INFN and deployed in collaboration with NYUAD, is operating at the Toledo Metro station of Naples, while two further detectors will be developed and installed in Abu Dhabi in the next few months.
•A compact system for real time displaying of muon tracks is presented.•The system is based on scintillating plates composed of doped polystyrene bars.•By using SiPMs and corresponding LEDs the muon paths can be visualized.•The purpose of this system is to introduce the public to sub-nuclear particles.
Abstract
This study shows the effect of a 1 year treatment with an estradiol valerate/dienogest pill in 36 women suffering from polycystic ovaries and mild or moderate acne. At beginning of the ...study, 24 patients (66.7%) had grade 1-2 (mild) acne and 12 patients (33.3%) had grade 3 (moderate) acne. After 12 cycles of therapy, we found an improvement of acne in 19 (52.8%) patients and a worsening of acne in 3 (8.4%) patients. The percentage of patients recovered was statistically significant (p < 0.01). SHBG levels were significantly higher after 6 and 12 months of therapy (p < 0.001), while total testosterone levels were lower in all patients at 6 and 12 months although this trend did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the E2V/DNG pill could exert a positive influence on acne and hyperandrogenism. Since this is an observational study on a very limited population number, additional randomized controlled studies on larger populations are needed also to determine the effects of this contraceptive over longer periods of use.
Introduction and hypothesis
One of the most frequent and distressing complications of the tension-free vaginal tape obturator (TVT-O) procedure for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is groin pain, ...which may be related to the surgical technique or to the tape. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a more limited dissection and a more medial trocar trajectory in TVT-O positioning on postoperative pain.
Methods
Seventy-two SUI patients were randomized to undergo TVT-O either with the traditional technique (group A) or a modified procedure (reduced paraurethral dissection and a more medial trocar trajectory) (group B). Visual analog scale pain scores 12 h, 24 h, and 1 month after the procedure, number of analgesic vials, objective cure rate, and patient functional and quality of life scores 6 months after the procedure were evaluated. Data were analyzed by the Student’s
t
test for parametric variables, the Mann–Whitney
U
and Wilcoxon tests for nonparametric variables, and Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables.
Results
Pain scores were significantly lower in group B compared with group A 24 h after surgery (
P
= 0.01). Pain scores significantly decreased from 12–24 h postoperatively to 1 month follow-up in both groups (
P
< 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the number of analgesic vials administered, cure rates, and questionnaire scores between the two groups.
Conclusions
More limited dissection and a more medial trocar trajectory of TVT-O seem to reduce postoperative groin pain at 24 h after the procedure, but not the analgesic requirement.
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